I have recently returned from another trip to the Masai Mara. February is the hottest time of the year, with temperatures reaching the high 30s.  I was lucky enough to experience some wonderful evening light, with storm clouds moving in and framing the animals against dark skies.  No wonder I love this place!  It can of course get frustratingly busy at certain times of the year, but there really is nowhere else like it in the world for the combination of wildlife, breathtaking landscape and light.

When I was in the Mara last November I photographed the famous leopard Olive – daughter of Bella – both stars of BBCs Big Cat TV series, mating with the male who is father of most of her previous cubs. Olive is already mother to eight cubs, and we observed that she is lactating. This ties in well, as the normal gestation time for leopards is about ninety to one hundred days.  There was no sign of the cubs, which is usual, as she will have them safely hidden away in her den until they are a little older.  This bodes well for my next trip in August, when she should by then be bringing them into the open, hopefully to provide me with some great photographic opportunities.

A few images from the trip below, some of which will feature in my next exhibition at gallery@oxo, which runs from June 14th to July 7th, more about that shortly.

My next trip is to the Pantanal in Brazil, in April, looking for the elusive jaguar.